Buying a used digital camera

If you are looking at buying a used digital camera here is some information to watch out for……..

In the past month I have had a couple students come in with digital camera that they bought used. In both cases the cameras did not work correctly, one was a problem with the camera and there was nothing that could be done to fix the problem (camera would still work but some features would not) and the other was a problem with the custom settings.

If you are buying used first make sure that you are confident that it is coming from a trustworthy source. If they have 50 ads on Kijiji selling all different cameras then I would be cautious as they are probably reselling and have no idea what shape the camera is in.

Second make sure that you try all the features and functions before buying. When I sell a camera I actually make the person try everything so we both know that things are working fine.

Third (and really important) use the camera reset to put all the menus and the custom settings back to normal. Some people have done some bizarre adjustments to their cameras and you need to make sure these are removed before you start shooting.